Whoever reached the finish line first was important, but hitting targets along the way with the crossbow was even more critical. The winner of the race received ten points, but there were many more targets scattered around the arena. You could win the race by hitting targets instead of coming in first. I planned to shoot down as many as I could while Ethan dealt with the obstacles.
Lady Magdalina strolled to our side as we came to the starting line. I hadn’t seen my sponsor since the tournament had begun. I didn’t know where she’d been until now. She was wearing a glittering, gossamer dress that seemed so light and airy. I didn’t know how she wasn’t floating above the ground. She was carrying a small, one-handed crossbow, which she pressed into my hand, along with two dozen tiny arrows in a small quiver.
“Stay vigilant, Emmaline,” she said. “Not everything in this race is what it seems.”
She wandered away and took a seat by Queen Antonia, who was in the royal box on the ground level of the arena. Antonia’s cold eyes surveyed me in a clear message—don’t mess this up.
I tied the quiver to my sword sheath, then put an arrow into the crossbow as Ethan lined up with the other shifters. The other sorceresses already had their crossbows at the ready. Gabby pointed hers at me and pretended to shoot, giving a harsh laugh. I rolled my eyes and set my gaze forward.
The shifters anxiously danced on the starting line, eager to break free. I gathered a chunk of Ethan’s fur in my left hand and held on tight. A shudder quivered through his form at my touch. I looked ahead to the jumps. All of them were significantly high, and what was worse, they were all on fire.
Because this wasn’t hard enough. I prayed that Ethan’s fur wouldn’t ignite like a candle when we passed over them.
A gunshot went off, and Ethan sprang forward. The contestants slammed into each other and pushed each other out of the way in order to gain the lead.
Wind blew back my braid, and the snow picked up, becoming thick chunks careening through the air. I clung on tightly with my thighs as Ethan sailed over the first jump. The flames licked at my boots, and I felt heat press all around me. When we landed, Ethan continued running toward the next jump. We hadn’t been burned.
The first target neared; I closed one eye, took shot, and missed.
As Ethan leapt over two jumps in a row, I reloaded and fired twice more. Again, my arrows sailed on past their target. Fuck. I swore, and reloaded the crossbow.
This time, the target was on my left side. I decided to experiment and switched the weapon to my left hand. This time when I shot, the arrow hit right on the bullseye.
I was a better shot with my non-dominant hand. Strange, but whatever. I lifted my left hand again and pulled the trigger. The arrow hit its intended target. I quickly reloaded and shot again. I hit yet another target, and the crowd cheered.
That was the last of the jumps. Ethan was running neck and neck with an alicorn and a dragon. Elijah had taken the lead. Gabby was hitting every target they passed. I picked up the pace, reloading arrows as quickly as I could and gathering points.
The jumps ended and we made it to the next obstacle— the barricades. They were long spikes that jutted out of the ground next to spears that sat at an angle. It looked like some sort of medieval death wall used in battle.
Flying had been banned for this round of the contest, so it was against the rules to soar over the barricades. The task was to find another way around, to show your intelligence. Most of the contestants skidded to a stop as they approached the barricade, eyes flashing as they considered how to get around it.
An alicorn ahead of us tried to jump over the barricades and speared himself in the shoulder. His sorceress had to take a knife and cut him free while he screamed in pain.
Ethan paced at the barricades, taking deep breaths. His tone was thick with frustration. “These damn things! How the hell are we supposed to get through?”
“Calm down. We’ll find a way around it.” I felt insanely pressured to do something. Next to us, Elijah and Gabby were slowly working their way around the spikes. Elijah had changed back to a human, and although it was slow going, the two of them managed to slither on through the barricade like the snakes they were… although Gabby ended up tearing her calf in the process. She cried out in pain, blood spurting through the wound. Elijah transformed into a wolven and hefted her onto his back as they pressed on to the next part of the race.
What Elijah and Gabby had done worked, but I didn’t want to chance Ethan and me getting stabbed with one of those spikes. Other contestants were trying it the same way, and they weren’t getting very far. Especially the dragon couple. They’d almost tripped, and the guy was so big that a spear had stabbed his shoulder. His mate grabbed him and saved him from getting impaled at the last second.
“I have an idea.” I drew my sword and began hacking at the spears. I didn’t expect them to break so easily, but was shocked when the blade cut through the wood like butter. The barricade didn’t react like I expected it to, but I wasn’t asking questions. I just hacked away at the spikes and spears like no tomorrow, until I’d cleared enough of a path that Ethan could jump over and safely to the other side.
The pit was next. A bubbling black pit of tar was the only thing that remained between us and the finish line. A couple of contestants had caught up to us and jumped right into the pit in an attempt to swim across, but they sank instantly. The dragon couple was drowning in the goop. They gasped for air as the goo pulled them downward like glue, preventing an escape.
Elijah snarled as he paced back and forth at the pit’s edge, unsure of what to do. Gabby was barking orders at him, but it didn’t appear that she had any idea what to do.
It was another test of our creativity. There had to be a way across the pit. We needed to use magic. Lady Magdalina told me if illusions were powerful enough, they could become reality. I needed to create an illusion that was strong enough to become real.
I lifted my hands and closed my eyes. I tried to envision something that would help us cross, and ended up thinking of a bridge.
I felt the metal of the dark necklace hiding beneath my cloak glow and become warm. It became hot against my skin, stinging, almost unbearable, but I refused to acknowledge the pain. We had to get across somehow.
I wasn’t using my own abilities to create the spell. I was drawing Unseelie magic from the necklace itself. The snow that was falling from above swirled to create a bridge of ice that crossed over the black pit, connecting from this side of the obstacle to the other.
Ethan didn’t hesitate. He raced over the bridge as I sagged forward onto his back, trying to catch my breath. The spell took so much energy. My body felt loose and watery. I was so weak.
“Emma. Can you hear me?” Ethan said softly.
I stirred on his back, feeling like I was going to pass out. My vision was darkening. I forced myself to remain conscious and said, “Yes, Ethan. I’m with you.”
